The present invention relates to a cleaning device for guides of steps or plates of escalators or moving walkways, wherein a step belt or plate belt consisting of, respectively, interconnected escalator steps or moving walkway plates is guided between lateral borders of the escalator or moving walkway and wherein guide elements in the form of slide blocks are arranged at the escalator steps or moving walkway plates.
Due to dirt deposits, which are caused by the environment and are virtually unavoidable, such as dust, abraded material from underground railway brakes, etc., at base plates of escalators or moving walkways or due to unfavorable material compositions, increased friction and noise output can occur between the base plates and the step belt of an escalator or a moving walkway.
To combat and avoid such friction and noise, use is often made of lubricating devices such as those set forth in, for example, Japanese Patent Specification JP 08225285. Such devices, however, entail additional production and maintenance costs.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to propose a cleaning device by means of which noise and friction can be arrested and which can be used instead of a lubricating device.
The foregoing and other objects and purposes are met by the present invention in which specially constructed cleaning slide blocks are provided at at least one escalator step or moving walkway plate instead of conventional slide blocks used for guidance of the step belt or plate. In a preferred embodiment the cleaning slide blocks are formed of a thermoplastic synthetic material with a relatively high proportion of glass fibers, so that dust, abraded materials and other contaminants at the lateral borders of the steps or plates are scraped off by the cleaning slide blocks during operation of the escalator or moving walkway.
In a further embodiment of the invention at least two brushes are arranged in the interior of the escalator or moving walkway in the region of the slide blocks, wherein the slide blocks are brushed and thus cleaned as they pass the brushes during movement of the step belt or plate belt. As a result of the cleaned slide blocks being cleaned, the lateral borders are also cleaned.
The invention allows the development of noise to be eliminated; through reduction in friction wear of the slide block is decreased and damage to the escalator/walkway base plates is prevented. Further advantages include the avoidance of lubricant films on the base plates and the ability to retrofit the invention upon already existing escalators and moving walkways.